Health & Wellness

12/21/2012

Sharon Scott-Hunter, 59, a retired assistant superintendent of the Chester Upland School District who spent 25 years teaching special education elementary students in Philadelphia, died of cancer Tuesday, Dec. 11, at Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse. Mrs. Scott-Hunter was a "consummate educator," said Gregory Thornton, former superintendent of Chester Upland.

12/14/2012

Health officials say students at Butler High School in east Georgia will continue to be tested for tuberculosis after the holidays as a precaution. Tammy Burdeaux, a nursing and clinical director with the East Central Health District, says officials will re-examine students who returned negative skin tests for tuberculosis bacteria during the initial rounds of testing.

In a battle over healthier school lunches that pitted the Obama administration against school children, chalk up a point for the kids. Students have been complaining that some of their favorite foods were taken off the plate because of the Obama administration's efforts to make school lunches healthier. Last week, the administration reversed some of the new school lunch rules, and the kids are happy again, says Dave Porter, superintendent of Wallace County, Kansas, schools.

12/10/2012

The principal of a Massachusetts high school is reviewing a school-sanctioned sexual education course after a parent complained that a flier about the class advocated condom use. According to the Berkshire Eagle, Pittsfield High School Principal Tracey Benson received the complaint from parent Bruce Radke, who saw a list of 32 phrases -- described as "Condom Sayings" -- that was passed out to about 15 students, including Radke's daughter Aleisha, a junior at the school.

The accidental deaths of two special needs students from Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, Fla. this year are shedding light on the need for comprehensive, mandatory emergency preparedness training for paraeducators. In October, 11-year-old Jennifer Caballero, a middle school student with Down syndrome, was found hiding under the bleachers during gym class by a coach, who two weeks earlier had complained to the assistant principal that the exceptional student education (ESE) aides were inattentive. The coach brought her to the aides, and asked them to keep an eye on her.

12/7/2012

The accidental deaths of two special needs students from Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, Fla. this year are shedding light on the need for comprehensive, mandatory emergency preparedness training for paraeducators.

The state education board has granted tentative approval to a plan to establish a charter school in Baton Rouge that would serve students with dyslexia. The proposed school — called Louisiana Key Academy — would serve students afflicted with the condition, which impairs the ability to read.

11/30/2012

Perhaps play is not the opposite of work, but synonymous with it. This theory is emerging from a growing body of scientific evidence, reviewed here by the University of Georgia, showing education is not the same as disinterested drudgery: For children and adults, "play is an important mediator for learning and socialization throughout life."

A Washington state community is wracked with controversy after a Longview mother posted photos to Facebook of an "isolation booth" for young students at a local elementary school. Ana Bate, who posted the photos, says the images were taken at Longview's Mint Valley Elementary School. They depict a free-standing padded room that has two peepholes, air holes in the ceiling for ventilation and a metal bar that locks the door from the outside. The photos have gone viral and ignited a storm of criticism.

11/26/2012

It's no secret that safe, happy and healthy children are more likely to achieve academic success. But bullying continues to be one issue standing in the way of safe and successful students. Educators are invited to attend a powerful all-day event on January 14, 2013 in New York City.